Consulate casino
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police raided the consulate of an african nation which doubled as a gambling den yesterday evening.
it arose from a tip-off by the straits times.
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woOOo... hahaha
maybe those scams also from their governments...
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At this rate, foreign talent will start to shun singapore.
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reporters can provide tip-off?
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our reporters can...Originally posted by precipice:reporters can provide tip-off? -
No, but newspapers can.Originally posted by precipice:reporters can provide tip-off? Strangely when the papers reported about that girl being bashed up by her peers caught on video, police didn't do anything coz no one reported it. Must be an anomaly, singapore's full of it. -
Singapore news reporters are acting as the 'eyes and ears' for the government, not for the interests of Singapore Citizens.
How many times have the SPH news reporters spied on Singaporeans and their favorite "enterprises" and "activities", which resulted in busts and legal actions taken ?
Has there been any investigative reporting of events such as Temasek's debacle in Shin Corp - on the same scale as that taken by Thai news reporters on the same subject, or towards the Thai Government ? -
SG juz appointed her own honory consul to Kazahstan.. u tink the SG consulate there will have gambling den too?
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What real the irony is:
In a few more years,
Those people can play legally in a very big and posh casino.
No raid will come.
I can only blame them for being impatient.
But remember, only inside that posh casino. If you play outside anywhere within Singapore, you are still susceptible to raids.
Sweet. It is better than an embassy. -
But why is it that they can raid an embassy? Isn't an embassy supposed to be foreign soil and isn't it that all diplomats are granted diplomatic immunity?
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cause its the consulate of an "african" embassy?Originally posted by SpecOps87:But why is it that they can raid an embassy? Isn't an embassy supposed to be foreign soil and isn't it that all diplomats are granted diplomatic immunity? -
Because this is singapore, when we're not happy with the rules, we can switch it whenever we like.Originally posted by SpecOps87:But why is it that they can raid an embassy? Isn't an embassy supposed to be foreign soil and isn't it that all diplomats are granted diplomatic immunity? -
Depends on who you are dealing with lah.Originally posted by ditzy:Because this is singapore, when we're not happy with the rules, we can switch it whenever we like.
People always have this belief that there is 2 laws - one for the rich, one for the poor. -
There is what. If you're not happy with an ordinary citizen's blog comments, you could report it for inciting anger and hatred. Do the same for an elite's blog and you could be charged for violation of privacy.Originally posted by charlize:Depends on who you are dealing with lah.
People always have this belief that there is 2 laws - one for the rich, one for the poor. -
The vice consulate
Cops raid gambling den in Senegal Consulate
• 8 S'poreans among 31 nabbed
• 23 charged with operating illegal gambling den
• About $80,000 in cash seized
FINGER on the buzzer, the plainclothes policeman ignored calls from the other side of the door to identify himself.
He and his fellow officer were not about to blow their cover, not when they were about to do something unprecedented: bust the premises of a foreign mission.
Nearby, in a lift on the top floor of Lau's Arcadia building, a group of policemen stood by, out of sight of a closed-circuit television camera.
The metal gate had been left open, leaving only the wooden door barring entry. All it took was a good shove to break into the Senegal Consulate.
Business conducted inside on Friday evening was hardly diplomatic. A mixed bag of men and women were thwarted mid-game, playing cards in hand and chips on the baccarat table.
They did not resist, sitting or squatting pliantly as police searched the air-conditioned premises.
Thirty-one people were rounded up, including 23 who are suspected to be part of the den's operations. The 23, a mix of Indonesians and Malaysians, were charged in court yesterday with operating an illegal gambling den, an offence for which they can be fined up to $50,000, jailed up to three years, or both.
The other eight are Singaporeans believed to be gamblers. They are out on bail.
Among those nabbed was a man with a full head of grey hair, believed to be the den's chief.
He appeared to be someone of consequence; a framed photograph of him sitting next to a man of African origin hung on a wall near the well-furnished consulate reception area.
But the facade of a consulate with its dark sofas, plasma television set and even a golfing putting mat laid out for visitors, disintegrates quickly.
Venture further in and there are three meeting rooms with semi-circular baccarat tables, swivel chairs and ashtrays. A noxious combination of cigarette smoke and powerful air freshener pervades the air.
A fourth room looked to be living quarters, with mattresses and pillows on the floor and a rack of men's clothes.
An attached bathroom was stocked with toiletries. Further evidence of a well-run den: a well-stocked pantry with cartons of Coke, jasmine green tea and mineral water. Fruits were found too, which are served only to high-rollers.
Police discovered two metal safes filled with $2, $10 and $50 bills. In all, they recovered about $80,000. There was the usual gambling paraphernalia - chips of different colours and cartons of playing cards.
Investigations by The Straits Times earlier last week found that a minimum bet was $100 and the maximum $30,000. The den also extended credit of up to $50,000 to high rollers.
While some of those arrested were shocked to tears, others cursed their bad luck.
After they were escorted out of the five-storey building in East Coast Road, one man, who looked to be in his early 30s, told another that this was the first time he had been caught in an underground gambling den.
'I usually gamble when I go on cruises with friends. Illegal dens are not worth the risk,' he said in Hokkien.
He jokingly asked if the bust meant he still needed to repay the money he owed the operators.
'Still must return,' the other man replied. Clearly, given the den's claim of having 300 or so regulars, there were many who got away.
Investigations earlier last week showed that as many as 100 punters could pack the premises late at night.
News of the raid spread quickly among the network of gamblers and operators.
A regular punter told The Straits Times he had received a call from a den operator the same night, advising him to stay away.
While the police were gathering evidence from within the consulate, men and women in expensive cars were seen in the side road, Chapel Close, which leads to the building.
They quickly did a U-turn and left, peering anxiously out of their cars, when they noticed a lot of people standing around.
It seemed that the syndicate had been aggressively recruiting new clients in the area since the consulate office moved from a shophouse unit in East Coast Road to Lau's Arcadia last month.
Regular diners at a nearby coffeeshop told The Straits Times that they had been approached by young men and women to gamble at the den, although they did not know it was a consulate office.
Often too, men would come to order bottles of beer to take back up the building.
When told about the raid, an employee at a lighting shop at Lau's Arcadia said: 'There's been some unfamiliar people going up the building in the past few weeks.
'Many of them look fierce. But there were also some young and pretty ladies.'
Mr Lionel De Souza, a retired police detective with more than 25 years of experience, has come across gambling set-ups in remote pig farms, cemeteries and Chinese funeral wakes, but never one in a diplomat's office.
'They must have been very sure they had immunity from arrest,' he said.
Those arrested were later led to a waiting police bus, shielding their faces from passers-by who had stopped to gawk.
But not all of them were mere onlookers - some were spotted exchanging waves with those arrested. They walked away briskly when The Straits Times approached them, and were seen making calls on their mobile phones.
As police were carting off evidence, a few yellow amulets were found pasted on the underside of the baccarrat table from the 'VIP' gaming room.
For the den operators, it was clear the paper charms did not bring any luck at all.
Copyright © 2006 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. -
i wonder if there'll be any outcry from the respective n****r country?
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so how? will the country's consul be summoned??
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Consul-General might have been notified and he would have been shocked that his office was used by his employee.
We do not bang the doors of an embassy down without diplomatic permission. -
Where is Senegal's Honorary Consul?
THE police are looking for Senegal's Honorary Consul to Singapore, Mr Benny Kusni, after the consulate was raided on Friday night.
But the Indonesian businessman is nowhere to be found. He has apparently not returned home since the raid and it is not clear if he is even in Singapore.
The African nation's consulate office, located on the fifth floor of Lau's Arcadia building in East Coast Road, was doubling up as an illegal casino which operated three baccarat tables.
The police nabbed 31 people, among them Singaporeans, Malaysians and Indonesians.
Foreign Minister George Yeo told reporters yesterday that the incident should not affect ties between the two countries.
Singapore and Senegal established diplomatic ties in September 1999.
Mr Kusni, who is believed to be in his 30s, came with his family to study in Singapore as a child. He is married to a Singaporean. They have two young sons.
He owns a company in Jakarta called Triskel, which exports timber products like flooring and furniture to Asian countries such as Singapore and China.
He was appointed Senegal's Honorary Consul to Singapore last December.
Honorary consuls are not paid for their diplomatic duties, which largely involve handling applications for visas.
When The Sunday Times tried to contact Mr Kusni on his Singapore mobile phone yesterday afternoon, it was picked up by a man who identified himself as Mr Kusni.
The man said he was busy and to call him later. Subsequent calls to his phone went unanswered.
Calls later in the day were diverted to the voice mail of Distinct Holdings, but there is no record of such a company in the Registry of Companies and Businesses.
A police spokesman said they are looking for Mr Kusni to assist in their investigations into the gambling den they had busted.
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman yesterday confirmed that honorary consuls do not enjoy diplomatic immunity and privileges under the Vienna Convention of Consular Relations, which Singapore signed in April last year.
'It is therefore up to the police to determine what action, if any, should be taken against the Honorary Consul of Senegal,' the spokesman added.
Copyright © 2006 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. -
THE HAUL: Police discovered two metal safes filled with $2, $10 and $50 bills and received about $80,000 in all. Also found were gambling chips.
THE ARRESTS: Police nabbed 31 people of whom 23 are foreigners suspected to be involved in the den's operations. The other eight are Singaporeans.
GO TO JAIL: The suspects arrested bring escorted to a police bus. Operators of an illegal den face fines of up to $50,000, or jail terms or both.
Copyright © 2006 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. -
or maybe there could be a conspiracy between the corrupted Govt and the country of Senegal that in order to let it's runners run the casino,10% of the proceed goes toward our govt
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sad sad thing..
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"A Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman yesterday confirmed that honorary consuls do not enjoy diplomatic immunity and privileges under the Vienna Convention of Consular Relations, which Singapore signed in April last year.
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What? We've only signed this last year?
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Hononary consulates do not enjoy the usual diplomatic privileges.Originally posted by LazerLordz:Consul-General might have been notified and he would have been shocked that his office was used by his employee.
We do not bang the doors of an embassy down without diplomatic permission. -
so where will the $80k go?